California Lottery, knowing that the prize had to be claimed by November 26 or lost forever, decided yesterday to publish a surveillance camera photograph of the person thought to have bought the winning ticket at Michael's Market & Liquor in Palmdale on May 30, reported the New York Daily News.

The woman's daughter saw the picture of the mystery winner , a dark-haired woman, clad in a blue or purple top, and recognised her immediately. She copied the image on the phone and shared it with her mother.

“When her daughter sent her mother a picture of the newspaper this morning, she just went back out to the car and the ticket was sitting right where she left it," California Lottery spokesperson Alex Traverso told ABC. "Pretty amazing."

California Lottery winners have a window of 180 days to claim their money; after that, the money helps fund California schools.

This is not the first time California Lottery has released surveillance images to identify a lottery winner.

A Fremont man finally claimed his $52 million jackpot in August after officials asked for the public's help in identifying him.

"He and his wife saw a picture of him on the news that night and came in the next day to claim the prize,” Traverso said.

"We want our winners to be able to actually collect the prizes they've won."

According to the Associated Press, more than $20.5 million in lottery winnings from the California Lottery have gone unclaimed from 2011 to 2012.

Ben Sadi, the store's manager, said the shop has hung an oversized check and signs boasting about the win. But he thinks the woman had never returned to the store.

The store, meanwhile, has already benefited from selling the winning ticket. It snagged a bonus of one-half percent of the prize , $115,000, for the sale.

"We sold the ticket the third week after our official day of opening the store," Sadi said, adding that news of the sale has sparked business.